The past year has been a good one for our chapter, and I thank you for all that you have done. We now have a fresh New Year stretching ahead of us, and a lot to be done. Our Board of Managers will gather on Saturday, January 9th to plan our activities for 2016. We have a great slate of officers, but are still looking for some good committee members. There are special needs in the Graves Committee, Veteran’s Committee, Flag Committee, and Youth Programs Committee. If you would like to help in any of these areas let me know; and show up on the 9th to participate in planning the New Year.
We started the New Year with the presentation of a flag certificate to my neighbor and thanks to Beverly Alexander’s suggestion are lining up another at the Culpeper Walmart. The celebration of the Battle of Cowpens is on January 17th and since I am unable to attend I am looking for someone to cover this national event for the chapter – please let me know if you would like to attend.
Our main project for 2016 will be making progress on the “Revolutionary War Walk” in Yowell Meadow Park in Culpeper. This project, an inspiration of Lon Lacey’s, has gathered support from local civic leaders and has tremendous potential to educated the public as we enter into the 250th Anniversaries of important revolutionary events. The next memorial will be the keystone of the entire walk, a memorial to all of the Culpeper Minutemen that was covered in an early report.
The license plate honoring the Culpeper Minutemen is struggling. At the November meeting we voted to extend the effort for two years and not pursue profit sharing. This required support from our government sponsors who were unwilling to give up on getting the license plate done in 2016. I think there is no chance of reaching our goal by the beginning of this legislative session and will encourage our patrons to support an extended effort. Look for more news on this soon.
I look forward to serving with you this New Year, and wish that you and yours will be blessed in 2016.
Your Servant,
Bill Schwetke, President